Most roadways are provided with spaced apart road posts or guideposts.
These posts provide a visual indication of the edge of the road and are usually provided with a reflector to provide improved visibility. These posts are usually made of wood and have a length of between 1–2 m, a width of between 5–10 cm and a similar thickness. Sometimes, the posts are made of plastic or metal.
These road posts are typically spaced apart by distance of between 50–200 m which means that there are thousands of such posts on each side of a long-distance road.
It is often necessary to slash the roadside grass. A tractor mounted slasher is typically used for this process. It is necessary to ensure that the guideposts are kept clear of weeds to maintain visibility for the safety of motorists.
When the tractor slasher encounters a guidepost, the operator is forced to detour as closely around the post as possible. However, this always leaves a patch of grass or weed around the guidepost that the slasher cannot reach. Damage to the guidepost often occurs by the slasher accidentally striking the guidepost. This type of damage is most common when the guide post is manufactured of a plastics material or a thin metal material.
Typically, after the slasher has mowed the roadside grass, the patch of grass or weed around the guidepost is separately cut using a line trimmer and this requires additional labour and incurs additional cost. Alternatively, the grass or weed can be sprayed but this also incurs additional labour cost and can result in unacceptable environmental pollution.
Therefore, there would be an advantage if it was possible to quickly remove the roadside guidepost prior to mowing and then replace the guidepost. In this way, there would be no patch of grass/weed around the guidepost and it would not be necessary to spray the weeds or to use line trimmers. There would also be an advantage if the guide post assembly was such that when the guide post was removed, any remaining ground portion had a low-profile and would not strike the blades of the slasher.
Another disadvantage with guideposts is the quite laborious technique used is to insert a new guidepost into the ground. Typically, a hole is dug and the guidepost is placed in the hole. Sometimes, concrete is used to hold the guidepost in place. The hole is dug using a digging augur which is typically hydraulically operated and therefore requires a “bobcat” or similar machine. The guidepost is dropped into the hole and an operator must backfill the hole once the guidepost has been placed, and compact the loose earth around the post. Alternatively, the post is simply pounded into the ground. This latter technique requires an extremely strong post to be used.
With these conventional techniques, should a post become damaged or destroyed, it is difficult, time-consuming, and therefore quite expensive to replace the damaged or destroyed post.
Therefore, there would be an advantage if some form of anchor assembly could be developed which would allow a guidepost which has been damaged or which otherwise requires replacement to be more easily replaced. There would also be an advantage if an anchor assembly could be developed which could be more readily driven into the ground and especially without requiring any digging or excavation of the ground, but which also did not require pounding the road post itself thereby allowing the road post to be made of more flexible and thinner material such as plastic or thin metal (it being appreciated that flexible and thinner material as a road post will provide a greater level of safety should a motorist inadvertently strike the road post).
It is known to provide a road post having a post portion and some form of anchor portion. However, these existing devices suffer from disadvantages. The main disadvantages include a slow removal and reattachment of the post relative to the anchor portion, a configuration that results in soil and dirt falling into the anchor portion making it difficult to reattach the post or requiring initial cleaning of the anchor portion prior to reattachment of the post. Other known designs attempt to overcome the cleaning difficulty by having the anchor portion substantially proud of the ground surface but this makes it difficult to mow around the road post and makes it likely that the slasher blades will strike the anchor portion which may damage the anchor portion or blades.
If a road post is to have an anchor portion that can be separated from the post portion, it is necessary to ensure to the post portion is securely fastened to the anchor portion and does not wobble or move. The reason for this is that the road post will usually be provided with a reflector and if the post moves (for instance under windy night time conditions), this can result in the reflector moving causing confusion to a passing motorist.
Australian patent application 455 99/96 describes a post stump apparatus which is more suited to a semipermanent attachment of the post. Removal and reattachment of the post is slow and labourious. Moreover, the portion of the assembly which is in the ground can easily fill with dirt making attachment and removal of the post quite difficult.
German patent specification 29716305 describes a road post anchor which has a portion extending from the ground surface and therefore presenting a striking hazard for slasher blades. Moreover, the portion of the assembly which is in the ground can easily fill with dirt making attachment and removal of the post quite difficult.
French patent specification 2705719 appears to rely upon gravity to hold the post in place which is not reliable and is not acceptable. Moreover, the portion of the assembly which is in the ground can easily fill with dirt making attachment and removal of the post quite difficult. The citation has a boxlike ground engaging portion which does not lend itself to be pounded into the ground and this portion will therefore requiring initial excavation of the ground which is undesirable.
French patent specification 2737525 has a boxlike ground engaging portion which does not lend itself to be pounded into the ground and this portion will therefore requiring initial excavation of the ground which is undesirable. Although the citation appears to illustrate the ground portion being pounded into the ground, this will be difficult if not impossible in the extremely hard road base. Moreover, the portion of the assembly which is in the ground can easily fill with dirt making attachment and removal of the post quite difficult.
French patent specification 2804988 appears to illustrate some form of collar which extends substantially above the ground surface and to which the post member is attached via some sort of intermediate member. The collar will be a striking hazard for slasher blades. Moreover, if the collar is filled with dirt, it will be difficult to attach the post member.
French patent specification 2772403 has a plate member driven into the ground. The plate member is provided with guides and a post is slid into the guides. If the guides are even partially filled with dirt, it will be extremely difficult to insert and remove the post.
Therefore, the main disadvantages with these posts is that they do not lend themselves to be pounded into hard ground (by being boxlike or tubular in construction), they often have a projecting portion extending above the ground to fit the road post (becoming a striking hazard) or have some form of cavity or recess or guide in which the post member must pass (which requires prior cleaning especially if dirt and debris falls into the cavity) all of which makes these devices not particularly suitable for use along a road where it may be necessary to quickly remove and attach hundreds or thousands of road posts during a slasher operation.
It will be clearly understood that, if a prior art publication is referred to herein, this reference does not constitute an admission that the publication forms part of the common general knowledge in the art in Australia or in any other country.